NC Senate Is Putting The Health of Our Waters At Risk. TAKE ACTION!

Submitted by Siobhan on June 15, 2016 - 12:36pm

Senate leaders have put the health of our waterways at risk. They have included a sneaky provision in the budget (not a place for policy) that would repeal the pollution control strategies for the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico Rivers and threaten ten years of work put into a pollution control strategy for High Rock Lake on the Yadkin River. Your elected leaders need to hear from you!

Your elected officials need to hear from youwhy clean water is important to you and your family. Tell your Senator you want to protect stream buffers like the ones in the photo. Ask them to remove section 14.13 from House Bill 1030 (Budget). See the sample letters/emails below to help you communicate your message.

Important information when communicating with your legislator:

Include personal stories and information if you are able. Include information to why your livelihood is impacted by clean water and how, if any, the current standards and protections we have in place have worked for your benefit. Do you work on the river, do you live next to the river, do you fish, swim or access the river, do you love to walk along the river?…include any and all of these stories of how access to a clean and healthy river is meaningful for your quality of life.

In order of most effectiveness:

Personal visit to speak with your legislator (going as a group works too!)

A phone call to your legislator (most likely picked up by an assistant) or a personalized email

Form letter/email

Petition

Example Letter 1:

I’m writing to ask you to oppose the Senate proposals in H1030 that would block cleanup plans drinking water source lakes across the state. The premise for the provision – that North Carolina’s nutrient management strategies have not worked and will not work – is false. The strategies have reduced nitrogen and phosphorus pollution input where they have been implemented.

Example Letter 2:

I’m concerned by the Senate provisions in H1030 which would block plans to reduce pollution entering drink water source lakes across the state. These important waterways that have helped to support a billion dollar recreational and commercial fishing industry have struggled with pollution related problems for decades. The pollution control strategies the Senate would repeal include wastewater treatment upgrades, controls on runoff from new developments and farm fields, and protections for riparian buffers along the state’s waterways. Please oppose any legislative effort to block these science-based strategies to have clean water in North Carolina.

Example Letter 3:

The Senate leadership is again attempting to block and delay efforts to protect clean water in North Carolina. Section 14.13 of H1030 attacks North Carolina’s nutrient management strategies, a package of rules designed to restore water quality and prevent massive fish kills in our waterways. Please oppose these provisions in H1030 and protect clean water. The current rules have and continue to work to keep the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico Rivers in a better state than what we experienced in the 1980’s and 90’s. The state need only enforce the existing rules to improve water quality even more!

Example Letter 4:

At a time when other states are facing increasing drought and battles over water supplies, North Carolina’s rivers, lakes, and estuaries are a key resource to support economic growth. But section 14.13 of the Senate version of the budget, H1030, would turn our backs on proven techniques for controlling water pollution and protecting our water resources. We can’t grow our economy with polluted waterways. Please eliminate section 14.13 from the budget bill, and protect our state’s water.